College Football Playoff Makes 24 Teams Official, Moves Army-Navy to Dec. 4 and Sets a 10-Game Scheduling Rule

The paperwork caught up with the reports. The College Football Playoff Management Committee voted unanimously on Monday, Nov. 9, to expand the field to 24 teams beginning with the 2027-28 season, and the CFP's official release filled in the parts the early reporting could only sketch: a calendar, a new home for Army-Navy and the Heisman, and a scheduling rule that will change how athletic directors build their nonconference slates.

Undrafted covered the ESPN deal and the end of the Power 4 title games when the news first broke from sources on Monday morning. Here is what the CFP's announcement (opens in a new tab) added.

The Field, in the CFP's Own Words

The release spells out the 24 spots. Four go to the champions of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC, with each league deciding for itself how that champion is crowned now that the title games are gone. One goes to the highest-ranked team from the American, Conference USA, the MAC, the Mountain West, the Pac-12 and the Sun Belt. The other 19 go to the highest-ranked remaining teams in the selection committee's final ranking. Notre Dame still has no guaranteed path and will have to earn an at-large spot, ESPN noted.

Seeds 1 through 8 get a first-round bye and then host a second-round game. Seeds 9 through 16 host first-round games against seeds 17 through 24. Add it up and 16 of the 23 playoff games will be played on campus, up from four under the current format. The quarterfinals and semifinals stay with the six bowl partners.

That committee, made up of the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, also kept the revenue split unchanged, ESPN reported.

The 2027 Calendar

The 2027 regular season opens Saturday, Aug. 28 and ends Saturday, Nov. 27, according to ESPN, with two open weeks built into every season starting in 2027. The playoff starts the first full week of December, with first- and second-round games played Thursday through Saturday. ESPN laid out the dates:

First round: Dec. 9 to 11, 2027. Second round: Dec. 16 to 18. Quarterfinals: Dec. 31 to Jan. 1, 2028. Semifinals: Jan. 13 and 14. National championship: Monday, Jan. 24, 2028, in New Orleans.

Tampa Bay already has the following title game, on Jan. 22, 2029. Selection Day for 2027 has not been set; the CFP said that and other key dates will come later.

Army-Navy Gets Its Weekend Back

The first Saturday in December, freed up by the loss of the Power 4 title games, now belongs to America's Game. The CFP said no playoff game will be scheduled against Army-Navy, and the 2027 meeting moves from Dec. 11 to Dec. 4 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, CBS Sports reported. CBS will air it and Paramount+ will stream it.

Army West Point and Navy have met on the first Saturday of December 45 times, but the game slid to the second Saturday in 2009 to stay clear of conference championship weekend. CBS Sports reported it will stay on the first weekend for as long as this format is in place.

The Heisman Moves Up a Week

Heisman organizers are moving Heisman Trophy Weekend one week earlier, to Dec. 3 to 5 in 2027, so it keeps its usual spot right after Army-Navy and ahead of the first round. The Heisman's Tim Henning told ESPN the two events were meant to complement each other rather than compete.

The 10 Qualifying Games Rule

This is the piece with the longest reach. Every Autonomy 4 school (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC) is expected to play at least 10 qualifying regular-season games, meaning conference games plus nonconference games against other A4 programs or Notre Dame.

Group of 6 schools face the same 10-game minimum, with a wider menu: conference games plus nonconference games against G6 or A4 opponents, Notre Dame or other FBS independents.

The release also says the selection committee "will not give any weight to a win over more than one (1) FCS opponent per season." One FCS game still fits; a second does nothing. The management committee can waive the requirements in extraordinary circumstances.

ESPN reported that the SEC originally preferred a 16-team field and came around once it had a scheduling model that included 10 Power 4 opponents. That model is now written into the playoff's rules.

What They Said

"We will make the 24-team Playoff spectacular for the fans, student-athletes, their institutions and all our stakeholders," CFP executive director Rich Clark said in the release. Clark also acknowledged the pushback from fans. "We're aware of the fan sentiment," Clark told ESPN, before adding, "But ultimately, we just need to make a spectacular playoff."

Mark Keenum, chairman of the CFP Board of Managers, credited the management committee "for their vision, diligence and collaboration." ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro called the expanded playoff "an important property for our company," and ESPN will put at least three games from each of the new first and second rounds on ABC, with the right to sublicense select games on top of its existing deal with TNT Sports. The field stays at 24 through the 2031-32 season.

None of it touches this year. The 2026-27 playoff is still 12 teams, and the title game is set for Jan. 25, 2027, in Las Vegas. The latest picture is in the second CFP rankings.

Sources: College Football Playoff, ESPN, CBS Sports, FBSchedules.

Photo: College Football Playoff.